Managing the Brand: Racial Politics, Strategic Messaging, and the Coalition-Building Efforts of Charter Management Organizations

• In Event: 54.018 - Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Policymakers and reformers have increasingly advocated to scale up the number of high quality charter schools to improve educational opportunities for communities of color. While many endorse charters as a means to address inequities, politics, or the manner in which power is asserted in the charter context, may complicate the degree to which charters advance educational equity. As charters engage in strategic behaviors to secure resources, they persuade and interact with various stakeholders to build supportive coalitions. These behaviors occur within local contexts characterized by unique political, economic, and racial dynamics that can affect how power and influence work at the local level. These strategic, engagement behaviors and their intersection with local racial and political contexts are less understood within the growing research base on charter schools.

Author

• Laura Elena Hernandez, University of California - Berkeley